


Your Smile Makes Me Awkward

by Lancelee (ashleeforreal)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Best Friends, First Kiss, First Love, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Rated T for language, keith is really gay, klance, lance has braces, there is some texting but its not a texting fic, theyre idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 15:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11039397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashleeforreal/pseuds/Lancelee
Summary: Keith ran a hand over his face again as he stared at the picture of Lance on his phone. He was failing to comprehend how the removal of a few pieces of metal had turned his best friend into - what was this? Lance suddenly no longer looked like the nerd that had once ranted to him for three hours straight about the entire science behind Deathclaws in Fallout 4.Now Lance was someone with a giant glowing grin, laugh lines that tugged up into the slightest of dimples Keith was pretty sure only he had ever noticed, with his bright blue eyes seeming so much more intense in the moment of glee after having his “mouth contraption of death” being removed.In other words: Lance was hot.





	Your Smile Makes Me Awkward

**Author's Note:**

> i only kept writing this bc [Boomer](http://spaceboomerang.tumblr.com/) said she liked the idea about 24 million years ago
> 
> thanks to Miki for betaing im love you

Lance and Keith had been best friends since around the sixth grade, a little while after Keith came out of the closet. The small town they lived in wasn’t exactly...accepting of Keith’s romantic interests. 

 

Despite the town being so little, there were at least 3 churches all within a mile radius of the school, and more than 10 inside city limits. It was tiny enough that word could easily get back to your parents of who you were hanging out with from the teachers, who spared no details at PTA meetings and church social events. After any given potluck or holiday service, at least 4 kids in Lance’s class seemed to get grounded for one reason or another.

 

More often than not, one of those friends was Katie Gunderson, who only let her parents call her by name. To everyone else, it was Pidge. Pidge may have been tiny, but assuming that was all she was would prove to be a huge mistake. Lance had only gotten in trouble for hitting a girl once, and that was due to a tiny, dirty blonde gremlin tackling him on the playground in the fifth grade, hitting two punches to his gut and giving him a black eye before he even landed a slap on her shoulder. They had rolled around in the dirt for a few minutes before anyone could stop them, and Pidge escaped with only a bruised cheekbone. Lance felt his battle wounds for two weeks. They had been inseparable ever since.

 

After Keith came out, Pidge was the first one who noticed everyone else’s immediate rejection of him. Not that Keith had been very social before that. Pidge had always been a people watcher, letting her eyes wander while Lance prattled on about nonsense to Hunk, usually about space and the stars. She’d nudged him in the ribs and pointed at the boy sitting by himself at a lunch table, not looking up at all and picking at his food.

 

“Don’t you think we should talk to him?” she’d asked, eyes narrowing behind her glasses that were too big for her face. Lance had clicked his tongue as he followed her finger, then rolled his tongue over the brackets on his top row of teeth as he considered.

 

“Won’t you get in trouble with your mom? He’s the one who asked out that guy from Mr. Robin’s class a week ago.” Lance didn’t seem opposed to the idea, at least. Pidge crinkled her nose and looked back to Keith, who seemed to exude more loneliness the longer you looked at him.

 

“I mean, you’re right. If I talk to him that’ll finally be enough ammo for my mom to ground me again for a week.” Pidge considered. Then she snapped her fingers, pointing her finger again, but this time at Lance.

 

“I can’t talk to him, and neither can Hunk, or our parents will find out. But since your parents don’t go to church here in town, you can,” she coaxed. Hunk’s eyes widened, apparently not having thought about himself getting in trouble.

 

Lance’s family was catholic, but in their town there were only protestant churches. Lance’s family had to take a forty-five minute drive every sunday for mass. Pidge was right, and as the nerd who played too many RPGs, he took his quest seriously.

 

“You’re right, Pidge. This is something only I can do,” Lance proclaimed, voice slightly lisped around the braces pushing against his lips. He’d only had them for two weeks, and was still trying to learn to talk normally around them. (He never would. This lisp would haunt him until he got them off almost two years later.) Lance stood from the table, shuffling around the round seat between his two friends and grabbing his plate to sit with Keith.

 

The boy jumped in his seat when Lance plopped down across from him, and looked up nervously. People hadn’t exactly been nice to him the past few days. Keith almost gasped, the breath of air getting caught in his throat when the weird, tan, and lanky kid from another class grinned at him, light glinting off of the metal apparatus attached to his teeth.

 

“Hi! I’m Lance!” the boy said, extending a hand with the palm facing Keith over the table. It was obviously an indication for a high-five, but Keith still hesitated to reciprocate. Lance didn’t waver, still smiling, only tilting his head in slight confusion as he waited. It must have been at least ten seconds before Keith said something.

 

“I’m Keith,” he replied lamely, and slapped his palm to Lance’s. The taller boy smiled, not looking disgusted at touching Keith, or turning his nose up as Keith gave a small smile back.

 

“So,” Lance began, dropping his hand back to the table, “I was wondering. Have you played Skyrim yet?”

 

Keith blinked, not expecting something like that. The question itself was innocent, but it was completely out of nowhere. He thought back to the few games he and his older brother shared, but couldn’t remember any called Skyrim. He wasn’t very interested in games, preferring to read and listen to music while Takashi played.

 

“No, I haven’t. Why?” Keith responded.

 

If Lance had been grinning before, he was beaming now, leaning closer to the table with his eyes lighting up. Lance  _ loved _ playing video games with other people, and he also liked watching people play them for the first time. “Do you wanna come to my house and play it this weekend? You could stay the night, Hunk does all the time.”

 

Lance didn’t mention that there was a reason only Hunk stayed, mostly that Hunk was the only one who knew his family well enough to not be freaked out by them.

 

“Uh,” Keith fumbled, “don’t you mind that I’m - you know?”

 

Lance’s smile dimmed, eyebrows furrowing. “Mind that you’re what?”

 

Keith took a deep breath, and twisted his fingers together beneath the table. His exhale was a little louder than usual as he tried and failed to look Lance in the eyes. This would be the first time he said it out loud to someone besides his family. He steeled himself, finally, almost glaring into Lance’s eyes when he looked back up.

 

“It doesn’t bother you that I’m gay?” Keith asked firmly, shoulders coming up to square like his father did in front of commanding officers. Keith held his breath.

 

Lance blinked for a moment, face completely blank, then his smile was back like nothing had happened. “No, why would it? It’s not like you have a crush on me, we’ve never talked before.”

 

Keith relaxed, stiff shoulders sinking in relief. This was the first time someone had not been grossed out by him since a week ago, everyone else assuming that because he liked boys, he liked  _ all _ of them. As Lance rambled on about all the high points of Skyrim, Keith wondered how long Lance would stick around.

 

~*~

 

Lance ended up sticking around much longer than anyone expected. Even though Keith was terrified of Lance’s family at first, they soon sucked him in and he became an honorary member of the Sanchez family. Most of the time, it was just Keith and Lance hanging out, but sometimes Pidge and Hunk would come too, but only ever to Lance’s house.

 

Of course, Keith became friends with them too, but he was closer to Lance than anyone except his brother. Lance never judged him for any of his weird antisocial habits, even if their personalities clashed frequently because of it. After only hanging out for a few months, it became normal on any given weekend for Lance to be playing Xbox sitting on one side of his bed while Keith read anything from Lance’s comic collection on the other side until Lance’s mom called them down for dinner.

 

At the dinner table, Keith always ended up sitting between the twins, Gio and Gina, for some reason. They had some kind of fascination with Keith, saying he was far cooler than their older brother for some reason. Lance always laughed when the kids six years younger than them would try to tug Keith up to their room and show him something they’d drawn or the newest toy Mrs. Sanchez had bought them.

 

(Keith wasn’t supposed to call her Mrs. Sanchez, he was supposed to call her Maria, but old habits die hard.)

 

Lance was usually arguing with his older brothers and sister about nothing in particular, as Hector and Susana had the same confrontational personalities Lance had. It was something they inherited from their father, who had a penchant for telling people exactly where they  could put their opinions, even in public. Keith had pieced that together the day they’d all gone out to get ice cream and the cashier had tried to short change them. For some reason, Keith had expected Maria to try and stop Mr. Sanchez (Eduardo), but instead she just smiled and ushered the kids back out to the car, watching her husband with a fond expression.

 

After dinner they’d end up back in Lance’s room, and then they’d do something together (play cards, take random pictures on the digital camera Lance had gotten for his birthday, homework) until it was time to go to bed. Even after they crawled under the covers, though, conversation might continue on into the night. Lance would tell Keith about the constellations, Keith talked about the flowers his mom brought home and where his dad was deployed, and how Shiro wanted to join the military when he got old enough.

 

At school, nobody messed with Keith anymore. One Eduardo Sanchez **™** explosion from Lance on the playground after someone called Keith a word he’d never heard before put an end to that. (Keith, weirdly enough, never heard that word again.)

 

~*~

 

The summer after eighth grade was the catalyst for the change. Keith was going away with his mom and brother for the summer to visit their family in Thailand, and while he might be able to message Lance, their time seeing each other face to face would be few and far in between.

 

“Promise we’ll talk at least once a week - and I mean  _ talk _ talk, not just texting. I have to keep you up to date with all the cool stuff I’m doing back here.” Lance whined, head hanging over the edge of Keith’s mattress while he packed his suitcase.

 

“Yeah, we’ll talk, quit complaining already.” Keith grumbled. Lance had only made him promise ten times now. Of course they’d talk, it wasn’t like Keith could suddenly go extended amounts of time without his best friend. Lance squinted at him as he rolled over and faced Keith properly.

 

“Don’t act like you won’t be in hell without me. This could be one of those bonding moments you love so much, but instead you’re all snappy.” Lance complained. Keith groaned in response.

 

“It’s hard to bond when you make me promise the same thing so many times. I’m not gonna forget, Lance. Also, for the record,” Keith countered, “bonding moments are supposed to be much more emotional. You’re just being annoying right now.”

 

Lance huffed, crossing his arms over his stomach. “I’m not annoying, I’m the light of your life. You’re gonna miss me getting my braces off, too.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “ _ Oh no _ , whatever will I do without seeing my loser best friend getting a metal contraption pried forcefully from his mouth?” 

 

Lance scoffed, but smiled anyway and leaned across the bed to shove at Keith’s shoulder playfully. “Hey now, I bet I’m gonna be hot without these blocking my stunning smile. Watch out, Keith, when you get back, I’ll have ladies crawling all over me!”

 

“Right, yeah, of course they will. Just like that German exchange student - what was her name?” Keith teased. Lance pouted and mumbled his answer to the bed.

 

“Francesca.”

 

“Yes, Francesca. The one who got confused and asked for directions to the bathroom, but her accent was too thick and you thought she was asking you out, and then you thought you were dating her for like a week.” Keith started laughing, pushing at Lance’s knee on his way back to his closet when the taller boy made a disgruntled noise.

 

“It was only four days,” Lance corrected moodily, half glaring at the wall and half fighting a smile because Keith was laughing. Even with Lance’s sparkling wit, Keith’s laughs were few and far between.

 

Keith’s smile stayed as he continued packing, and Lance tried to pretend he wasn’t counting down the minutes until he had to say goodbye.

 

~*~

 

Lance → Keith

Lance: i tripped and hit pidge with a burrito look

Lance: [angery_bean_gremlin.png]

Keith: how did you survive long enough not only to take the picture but to send it to me too

Lance: hunk dragged her off of me lmao

Keith: weak

 

~*~

 

Lance → Keith

Lance: t-minus 6 days until no more braces

Keith: im getting my sunglasses out as we speak

Lance: bc my smile is gonna be so bright? :D

Keith: no bc the world is about to be exposed to a whole new kind of horror that the metal has been hiding from us and i want as much protection as possible

Lance: r00d

 

~*~

 

Lance → Keith

Lance: THE BRACES ARE OFF

Lance: THE EVIL IS DEFEATED

Keith: pics or it didnt happen

Lance: [handsome_boi.png]  ✓ Read 10:57 AM

 

~*~

 

Lance → Keith

Lance: Keith?  ✓ Read 11:23 AM

 

~*~

 

Keith → Pidge

Keith: whathtefukc

Pidge: gay

 

~*~

 

Keith ran a hand over his face again as he stared at the picture of Lance on his phone. He was failing to comprehend how the removal of a few pieces of metal had turned his best friend into - what was this? Lance suddenly no longer looked like the nerd that had once ranted to him for three hours straight about the entire science behind Deathclaws in Fallout 4. 

 

Now Lance was someone with a giant glowing grin, laugh lines that tugged up into the slightest of dimples Keith was pretty sure only he had ever noticed, with his bright blue eyes seeming so much more intense in the moment of glee after having his “mouth contraption of death” being removed.

 

In other words: Lance was hot.

 

Which is why Keith, instead of responding like a good best friend would, locked his phone and tossed it onto the bed. It now seemed strange to talk to Lance now that he was attractive - but no, he always had been. Keith took a moment to berate himself internally. The disappearance of the braces hadn’t suddenly made his best friend attractive, they’d just made Keith realize that they had been his only scapegoat into not having some kind of crush on Lance.

 

At least this realization had come when there was an ocean and thousands of miles between the two of them. Keith could pretend to have fallen asleep later, but for now he put his phone on the bedside table and stared at the ceiling, listening to his cousin snoring across the room.

 

~*~

 

Lance was laying back on his couch while his mom made a pot of mashed potatoes for him in the next room, his knee jumping anxiously in time to the  _ thump-thump-thump  _ of his sneaker on the carpet while he stared at the tiny ‘R’ at the edge of his last message. Keith had obviously seen the message, and the picture of him. Why wasn’t he responding?

 

Lance had been excited to show his best friend what he looked like without the metal brackets crowding his mouth and obstructing his smile. He told himself it was just because it was a big moment for him, and best friends shared things like that, but some small part of him was whispering that he’d somehow hoped Keith thought he was good looking.

 

His mom had been going on and on about how handsome he was now, and when Lance had looked in the mirror, he’d almost started to believe it too. The one person he counted on being just excited as him had been Keith, but…

 

Well. Keith didn’t have anything to say. Lance had looked at the picture again at least twenty times now, but every time he just thought about how nice he looked now. No more brackets in the way of his pearly whites, no more cheese from pizza getting caught on the wire, and no rubber bands pulling his jaws together.

 

Maybe Keith hadn’t been kidding about him being a horror without the braces?

 

Lance’s foot slipped a bit, his rhythm stumbling as he figured it out.  _ Oh. _ So Keith really didn’t like him without the braces.

 

Something cracked in his chest a little bit. He’d probably grossed Keith out with his smile - what if his teeth looked better with the braces on?

 

“Lance! Your dinner’s ready,” Maria called out, the sound of a bowl hitting the table echoing into the living room. Lance checked his messages one more time before locking his phone and leaving it on the coffee table. Despite his mother insisting that he smile for her one more time before eating, it felt forced now.

 

~*~

 

Lance bit his lip while looking down at his phone again two days later. This was usually when they talked each week. Saturday morning, 9 A.M. for Lance and 9 P.M. for Keith. Keith always insisted that he be the one to call Lance, since the house he was staying in over in Thailand had a lot people in it and was too noisy to hear a ringtone, apparently.

 

But now it was ten past, and Lance’s phone still wasn’t receiving a call, and he was a little worried because they hadn’t talked since he’d sent that picture.

 

Lance → Keith

Lance: is everything alright?

Lance: do i need to call this time?

 

There were a few moments with no response, before the little ‘D’ changed to an ‘R’. Even then, there were at least ten seconds of pause before Keith started typing. Lance tugged at a bit of skin on his lip with his teeth, waiting for the response to appear.

 

It seemed like Keith knew he was torturing Lance. The typing bubble appeared and disappeared at least four times before a message appeared, and by the time it did Lance was about to toss his phone at the door in impatience. When he read the message, it was not at all the response he was hoping for.

 

Keith: im gonna have to raincheck sorry

 

Lance sat up in bed, scooting back against his headboard to see his screen better. He felt a sting in his fingers while he tapped out a reply, but ignored it.

 

Lance: is everything ok? why cant you talk?

 

This time he was left waiting for a full three minutes, staring at his phone in anticipation. Some part of him knew this was Keith avoiding him, but the part hoping there was a legitimate reason, like someone being in the hospital, or his phone was about to die and he didn’t have a charger.

 

Keith: my cousins took me and takashi to some kind of festival and there are a lot of people around

Keith: its really loud

 

Lance could already tell it was a lie because he knew Keith hated those festivals, he thought there were too many people and he’d never go willingly. Keith had fought Lance tooth and nail not to go to the fair a couple months ago. Plus, he’d already seen evidence earlier: Takashi had made a post about staying in and making homemade curry with his grandmother at around 6, and Lance always checked all his social media when he first woke up.

 

Lance: cool

Lance: maybe we can talk tomorrow?

Keith: maybe

 

They didn’t talk. In fact, Lance texted Keith eight times trying to make sure his best friend hadn’t died in another country. The only response he got came from Takashi when Lance finally broke down and texted him instead.

 

Takashi: Keith is fine? He’s had his phone with him the whole day, maybe he has it on silent. I’ll let him know you’ve been trying to talk to him.

 

After that, no more responses came from either brother, and Lance eventually gave up texting and went over to Hunk’s house. Pidge and Hunk were already sitting on the floor of the living room when he got there, Hunk leaning against the armrest of the couch and Pidge sprawled out in a mess of limbs and the wire of her Xbox controller. Lance plopped down into the loveseat, only giving Hunk a grunt of acknowledgement when he said hello. Pidge flipped over, further tangling herself in the wire as she smirked deviously up at Lance, who was obviously pouting.

 

“How’s Keith?” she asked, easily knowing the cause of Lance’s distress. Lance just sniffed at her and rolled his eyes. Pidge sent Hunk a glance, and they shared a knowing gaze before turning back to Lance.

 

“Keith? Don’t know him,” Lance snapped, crossing his arms over his chest and kicking a foot out against the carpet. Pidge snorted, dropping her controller in favor of untying Lance’s shoelaces just to piss him off.

 

“Ooooh,” Pidge teased, “what’s loverboy done this time?”

 

Lance tried to yank his foot back but only succeeded in helping Pidge’s quest, fully pulling the laces on his right shoe undone. Hunk seemed to be picking and choosing his battles, torn between looking at his phone to text his girlfriend instead of listening to this conversation or trying to solve Lance’s teen angst.

 

“It’s more of what he  _ hasn’t _ done,” Lance pouted, choosing to just kick off his shoes and lay across the loveseat, the bottom of his calves and ankles tossed over the armrest because his legs were too long. Pidge scooted closer so she could lean against the couch and tilt her head back to lay on Lance’s stomach while Hunk laid his phone face down on the coffee table. Lance was gearing up to a rant, and it was easier to just prepare and ride it out.

 

“Go on,” Hunk prompted. Pidge reached back to jab her fingers into Lance’s belly. Lance yelped and rubbed at the spot, glaring at Pidge, but took a deep breath and explained.

 

“I guess it started when I got my braces off. I took that selfie, right? I sent it to all of you at the same time, and I thought he’d be excited too, but he didn’t ever properly respond to it.” Lance paused for a second, trying to get the order of events correct in his mind before he continued. Pidge raised an eyebrow, fingers twitching towards her phone, but waited for Lance to continue.

 

“So then we don’t talk at all the rest of that day. On Saturday, he didn’t want to talk and gave me a bullshit excuse, said maybe we could talk today, right? Then he didn’t respond to any messages, so I finally texted his brother, who says Keith isn’t dead and he had his phone the whole time, and he’s gonna tell Keith I was trying to talk to him, and now neither of them are replying.”

 

Lance was staring at the ceiling forlornly, and then rolled onto his side so his back was against the cushions behind him, subsequently dislocating Pidge’s head from its placement on him and landing it on the seat. Hunk was twiddling his fingers as he looked towards the TV, and not at Lance.   
  
“Maybe they have bad cell service? Or your messages aren’t fully going through?” Hunk suggested, tone making it obvious he knew this wasn’t the case. He really only wanted to make Lance feel better.

 

Lance pulled a throw pillow into his arms and hugged it next to Pidge’s head, and then changed his mind. Lance threw the pillow in the floor and instead cradled Pidge’s face directly into his stomach, smothering her. “Pidgey,” Lance wailed, hugging her head tighter as she struggled, “what will I do if my husband leaves me?”

 

It was easy to tell that Lance was still upset, but if he wanted to lighten the mood when they all knew his best friend was ignoring him, the other two wouldn’t stop him. Pidge threw her fists out blindly, barely missing Lance’s crotch with one hit, which finally made Lance let her up for air in a panic to escape.

 

Pidge still landed a punch to Lance’s stomach in retaliation, making the taller teen curl up with a grunt of pain while Pidge scooted out of the danger zone. “I don’t know what _ any _ of us will do without your husband, he’s the only one who can control you,” Pidge complained, adjusting her glasses to sit on her nose correctly.

 

“I’ll try and text him to see if he’ll respond, maybe my messages will go through?” Hunk offered, picking his phone back up tentatively. Lance perked up for a moment before he remembered why Keith probably wasn’t speaking to him. Lance scrubbed a hand through his hair as he relaxed back out across the couch, but it was all for show. Pidge and Hunk could still detect the tension lurking in Lance’s shoulders and the tightness of his smile.

 

“Don’t worry about it Hunk,” Lance joked, voice both full of false bravado and hollow at the same time, “I think my ugly face scared him off.”

 

Hunk gave an honest attempt at a laugh, but the jab fell flat and left Pidge reaching for her phone with a pissed off glint in her eye. Hunk asked if Lance wanted to play a round of Call of Duty, pointing at Pidge’s abandoned controller and picking up his own. Lance accepted the distraction, tired of dissecting all the reasons why Keith wasn’t talking to him.

 

Pidge stood up and went to the kitchen, already pulling up her conversation with Keith.

 

Pidge → Keith

Pidge: so what’s your grand plan here? Make lance think you hate him and then sweep him off his feet when you get back?

 

There were a few minutes of silence, only the sound of Lance and Hunk’s playful bickering in the other room distracting from the fuming Pidge was doing in her own head while she waited. Finally the message was read, and she got her short response.

 

Keith: what?

Pidge: don’t play innocent with me buddy we both know you’re ignoring lance

 

There was a brief pause, before Keith seemed to choose the “dodge any and all consequences” card.

 

Keith: I’m not ignoring him

Pidge: avoiding him, then

Pidge: why can’t you grow a pair for once and face the fact that you’ve been pining over lance for like two years

Pidge: you realize he thinks you think he’s ugly without his braces right

 

There was no response this time, and Pidge huffed before stomping back into the living room and watching as the two boys battled it out on the screen. She tried not to appear agitated as she checked her phone every couple of minutes. Finally, a phone did alert the rest of them to an incoming call, but it wasn’t Pidge’s.

 

Lance pulled his phone out of his pocket, eyes lighting up when he saw the name on the screen and hopped up from his seat to go outside. “I’m gonna take this, guys, I’ll be back,” he tossed over his shoulder, almost to the door. Pidge was already reaching for the TV remote while Hunk checked the time nonchalantly. When the door clicked closed, they both looked up and counted to fifteen before muting the TV and creeping towards the door.

 

Lance bounced down the porch steps, answering the phone with a smile.

 

“Keith!” he greeted, voice too loud.

 

Keith just breathed for a moment on the other end, before replying, “Hey, asshole.”

 

Lance laughed, the sound coming out more relieved than he meant for it to. He looked down at his shoes as he dragged his feet through the grass of Hunk’s front yard, tucking one hand into the pocket of his shorts. “You call me the asshole, but who’s been MIA for 3 days?” Lance teased, voice wobbling slightly.

 

Keith mumbled something in Thai, talking to someone else for a second, before he came back. “Yeah, sorry about that. It’s like midnight here. I didn’t mean to ignore you, promise, but my mom and aunts have been cracking down on no phones during family time,” Keith lied. They both knew Keith was lying. Lance was his best friend, of course he could tell, even over the phone. It was in the small sigh Keith gave right after speaking, the tapping noise of Keith’s fingers on some surface waiting to see if Lance bought it. Usually, Lance would call bullshit and demand a real answer.

 

This time, though, Lance cowered from the truth.

 

Lance closed his eyes and tilted his head back towards the sky, feeling the sunlight warm his skin while he put on the most forced smile he’d given since his grandpa’s funeral.

 

“Aw, that sucks man. Guess you guys have been busy then,” Lance lamented. Keith let out a relieved sound, before an affirmative hum. The tapping ceased.

 

“Yeah, we have. This is the most free time I’ve had all day,” Keith noted.

 

Lance’s hands itched. He wanted to ask so badly, the question was killing him, but some part of him already knew, and accepted it. It was better to at least have Keith talking to him, if nothing else. He could settle for this. Even with how upsetting it was to think about this being all he could have from Keith, a new thrill ran through him, because he was still lucky enough that Keith stayed friends with him.

 

Lance let out a breathy laugh, stopping in the middle of the yard and rocking on his heels, opening his eyes. “You’ll have to tell me all about it when you get back!” Lance exclaimed, voice full of a new determination.

 

“Definitely,” Keith responded, voice also gaining energy. It sounded like everything was going to be fine.

 

~*~

 

Pidge and Hunk gathered no information from eavesdropping on Lance’s phone call, but afterwards everything  _ seemed _ to go back to normal. They played video games, Lance talked about Keith, Hunk talked about Shay, and Pidge talked about her latest project. Lance was back to counting down the days until Keith came back, ranting about how Keith was going to stay at his house for a few days after he came back, they were going to order pizza and Keith would tell Lance about Thailand.

 

There didn’t seem to be any issues, of course, until Keith actually got back.

 

Lance, Pidge, and Hunk had went over the day after Keith and his family got back, at about eight at night to hopefully accommodate Keith’s jet lag. Keith had opened the door, a small smile on his face (and unless you were Lance and knew Keith’s exact sense of humor, that was the biggest smile you could ask for). They’d all gone in for a group hug, and as they pulled back, the change in Lance was immediate.

 

Lance was smiling, yes, but not the way he usually did. His mouth was tugged up high at the corners, laugh lines straining, but his lips stayed pursed tight. Keith noticed, but didn’t say anything - Lance could get emotional sometimes, so he figured his best friend was just holding back from crying or something in front of Hunk and Pidge.

 

They’d gone inside and talked to Keith’s family, and when Keith had went to the bathroom Lance had relaxed enough to fully smile while he conversed with Keith’s mother. She had gasped when she saw his full grin, pulling Lance closer by the cheeks with an elated gleam in her eyes.

 

“Lance, Keith didn’t tell me you got your braces off!” she cried, tilting his face this way and that to look while Lance grinned wider, basking in the praise. “You look so dashing now! Lance, you were handsome before, but now you’re gonna be a real womanizer!”

 

Lance blushed, but anyone could see the way his chest puffed up at the compliments. “Thank you, Mrs. Shirogane,” he hummed, gently pulling away from her hands. Lance was still riding on the high of being called handsome when Keith came back in, and Lance rounded on him with a beaming face, teeth on full display and eyes crinkled at the corners.

 

Keith made eye contact, but couldn’t hold it for long, before his gaze roamed over the rest of Lance’s face, taking in the giant smile and hopeful look. Lance’s mouth seemed like it was just  _ gleaming _ , asking for Keith to get caught staring at it, so he quickly cleared his throat and looked away, sliding his eyes to the ground.

 

Hunk and Pidge watched the interaction, seeing the way Lance immediately seemed to sober and his mouth tightened up, lips pinching together as he turned back to Keith’s mother. When Keith finally looked back up, he saw Lance had turned away from him with his back straight, and when he glanced at his two other friends, he recoiled slightly. Pidge was glaring dead level at him, the flames practically spitting out of her eyes, and Hunk just had this disappointed look that made Keith want to crawl into a hole.

 

~*~

 

There were only two weeks before school started, which meant Lance had to use every chance he had to pack in fun for Keith before they were weighed down with their upcoming AP classes and extracurricular activities. Lance had mercifully decided they could start with the things not requiring much energy while Keith tried his best to readjust his sleeping schedule, the two of them going to the movies and playing video games into the early morning hours.

 

Lance continued to smile with a closed mouth, and at first Keith had felt bad, but the longer it went on the less he noticed. Lance never brought it up, and neither did Keith, and it all seemed to be fine. Keith got to pretend he wasn’t hopelessly pining after his best friend, and Lance got to keep Keith happy, even if his jaw did hurt from restraining himself in front of his best friend. Keith was the person who made him smile the most, after all.

 

Lance’s family, however, did not stop noticing. They acted like everything was fine in front of Keith, but eventually it had hit a point where shared concerned glances weren’t enough, and Susana pulled Keith aside when Lance was distracted with dish duty. Keith had been nervous, because Susana didn’t care who you were - a stranger, a superior, even another family member - if you hurt her siblings, you were  _ dead _ .

 

“Do you know what’s up with Lance?” she asked, holding just a smidge too tight on Keith’s shoulder, the threat clear, “He’s been acting all weird since you got back, like he doesn’t actually smile. You’ve noticed, haven’t you?” Susana’s face was right next to Keith’s, barely bending down to be at the same height as him and give him a look that screamed  _ I know where your family sleeps, so choose your words carefully _ .

 

“I- I guess I’ve noticed?” Keith mumbled, voice cracking from nerves. Susana smirked, leaning back a little.

 

“So you know why, then, pretty boy,” she sang mockingly, “because if anyone knows what’s causing this, it’s you. Here’s what you’re going to do for me.” Susana paused, releasing his shoulder to clap the hand against his cheek just this side of too hard, making it clear what would happen if he didn’t do as he asked. She hissed her next words, low enough that even if the twins were eavesdropping from the staircase they wouldn’t hear it.

 

“You’re going to fix whatever got broke, understand? Lance better be smiling the size of the fucking  _ sun _ by the end of the week, or your ass is  _ toast _ .”

 

Keith swallowed and nodded, and Susana immediately smiled bright and big like any member of their family usually did, the switch flipped back to pleasantness. She ruffled his hair and let out a little chuckle, walking past Keith to the stairs, but dropping one last comment as she passed as if it was no big deal before going back upstairs to her room.

 

“Maybe go ahead and tell him how you feel while you’re at it, yeah? You two are getting pathetic to watch at this point.”

 

Keith froze, choking on his own spit while he spun around wildly only to see Susana wink at him before disappearing to the next floor with a flip of her hair. He glanced around self-consciously, peeking around the doorways nearby to see if anyone had heard, only to get two nine year olds tangled around his legs as they each sat on his feet and clung to his legs. They burst out in giggles when Keith almost fell over, but managed to keep him upright by leaning to even out his balance.

 

“Keith, Keith!” Gio yelled, digging his fingers into the back of the teen’s left knee, “You’re strong, right? Take us to the living room!”

 

Gina squealed in agreement, reaching up to try and grab Keith’s hand distractedly. Gina had always been a little more easy to get lost in her own thoughts, and frequently lost her place in conversations and interactions because she was too caught up in her own thought processes. Keith had always found it endearing and tried to keep her on track sometimes, but mostly ended up giving into her whims. He bent over a bit at the waist so that he could let Gina hold his hand,  and Gio quickly caught on and grabbed the other one.

 

“Now we’re one big monster!” Gina proclaimed, and tugged at the leather wristband Keith’s grandmother had given him during his visit to signal that it was time to move. Keith let out a small groan but began waddling forward nonetheless, the twins screaming in excitement when he lifted his feet up higher than necessary to lift them in the air.

 

“Faster!” Gio demanded, hand clamping down hard on Keith’s left wrist and pulling. Keith couldn’t help a small grin as he picked his left leg up higher than before, making Gio squeal as he was dropped back down. Keith couldn’t really go any faster with this many kids attached, but he could be more dramatic.

 

Before the trio could make it all the way to the living room, Hector walked out of the kitchen with wet hands and a confused look on his face when he saw the oddity of their position, Gina halfway through the air and gripping Keith’s bracelet so tight the leather wrinkled, like she might fall off without a vice grip on it.

 

“Oi! Are you two trying to break his back?” Hector asked jokingly, squatting down to be closer to the kids when Keith stopped moving. Gio gave a loud reply in Spanish, exaggerating the word  _ monstruo _ as he gestured to Keith and Gina.

 

Hector rolled his eyes before swooping in and lifting Gio off of Keith’s foot, tapping Gina on the head as he nodded to the stairs. “Playtime’s over, you two. Bath time,” he ordered, even as Gina whined out a complaint. They both followed, however, knowing that their mother was still in the kitchen next door. You only disobeyed a Maria Sanchez order once.

 

Keith poked his head into the kitchen, seeing Lance putting away a stack of plates with a slew of cups next in line. Lance’s mother was wiping down the counters and talking in rapid Spanish, too fast for Keith to follow, before she finished wiping the counter and looked up at Lance, who looked like he’d still be there for a few more minutes. 

 

She waved him off, still speaking in Spanish, and pointed to the door saying something about “tu novio.” Whatever it was, Lance turned red up to his ears while his mom took on a wicked smile. When Lance glanced over and saw Keith, his face took on the darkest blush Keith had ever seen on him, and Lance stomped out of the kitchen while his mother laughed.

 

“Let’s go play Xbox or something,” Lance babbled, pulling Keith up the stairs by the wrist. It was their usual brand of physical contact, not unusual, but Keith still felt the blood rush to his face. Ever since he’d gotten back he couldn’t calm down when he and Lance were alone, always thinking about the things that could happen only in his imagination.

 

When the door shut behind them, Keith flinched slightly, and went to his usual spot on the side of Lance’s bed facing the TV where he could lean against the headboard. Despite suggesting they play a game, Lance face planted onto the bed next to Keith, his feet hanging off the bottom of the bed from the growth spurt he’d hit a few weeks back. Keith had been surprised by the new 3 inch height difference, to say the least, but it wasn’t unpleasant by any means. It just fueled his cheesy hormone-filled teenage fantasies that much more.

 

It seemed everything about Lance was maturing too fast for Keith to keep up. His best friend grew more and more attractive by each day, getting taller with legs that made Keith drool, a lower voice that only cracked every once in a while now, his bright smile that-

 

That Keith had only seen twice, when Lance seemed to be caught off guard. First was the night with his mother, and second had came a week after he had been back, when they were all over at Lance’s place having a Mario Kart tournament on the Wii downstairs. Keith had went to get another bottle of water, having chugged what was left of it in a rage after getting knocked off the side of the track for the sixth time by a cackling Pidge.

 

Pidge must have cracked some really inappropriate joke right before Keith came back, because when he rounded the corner back into the living room, Lance had fallen over on the couch, head in Hunk’s lap while he struggled to breathe. Lance had completely lost it already, not able to keep track of who was in the room and wiping tears out of his eyes while Hunk wheezed for breath above him, and Pidge was laying on the floor trying to contain her giggles to no avail.

 

The sight of Lance smiling like that had made Keith pause once again, just getting flustered by the sight and taking in how Lance’s mouth curved around the sound of his breathless laughter. Keith had wanted to join in, he’d wanted to be the cause of the smile, he’d wanted to  _ kiss _ that smile right off Lance’s dumb pretty face.

 

It had put an ugly feeling in Keith’s stomach. He knew that his lack of response that first day when the braces were off - and the continuing lack of acknowledgement of the problem - were why he didn’t get to see Lance’s gorgeous smile. It was that second time that made him feel jealousy. He envied the people that were around Lance when he wasn’t, the ones who got to bask in the brightness of a beaming Lance.

 

The fire had been building since then, a gross feeling of want that made his insides crawl every time Lance gave him that close-mouthed smile, even if he didn’t notice it at first. But now that Keith had acknowledged that feeling, there was no way to contain it, and as he was wont to do, it came out all wrong with no planning.

 

“Is something wrong with your mouth?” Keith asked, voice coming out too harsh and too loud. He flinched, turning to look at the window as he started mentally beating himself over the head with a bat.  _ Bad Keith! There’s nothing wrong with his mouth, dipshit! _

 

Lance flipped his head so that his cheek was now squished into the pillow, so he could look at Keith. “What do you mean?”

 

Lance’s voice was guarded, eyes narrowing in cautiousness. Depending on how Keith went about this, it could go really well or really south really fast. Keith shifted nervously, crossing his arms and letting his right hand start tapping out a rapid rhythm on his left elbow while he resolutely kept his eyes off Lance.

 

“You haven’t really smiled much. Well, you’ve smiled, but not the way you used to. It looks weird,” Keith muttered. Lance let out a little huff of breath next to him and turned his head back to the pillow, burying his face in it. He was too emotionally drained from having to catch every smile before it happened around Keith.

 

“Does it?” Lance questioned, muffled by the fabric. Keith didn’t dignify it with an answer, just waiting for Lance to escape the land of Pillow and come back to the living realm. When Lance finally looked up his face was distraught, but he quickly quirked only one corner up so that Keith wouldn't see how upset he was. It was already hard enough not to fully smile around Keith, but now he couldn't even smile with his mouth closed.

 

"What's weird about it?" Lance asked quietly, trying to brace for whatever Keith said next.

 

Keith felt his cheeks flush as he stared resolutely at the carpet of the floor next to the bed, trying to give himself the confidence to just tell Lance what he wanted. It wasn't that hard - he just had to say he wanted a  _ real _ smile, not the weird tight-lipped expression Lance had been giving him since he'd gotten back. It was his fault, after all. Keith should be able to just tell Lance he liked him, and his real smile was so beautiful he thought he might pass out from overexposure to it.

 

"Well, you never...smile like you used to. Before I left," Keith settled on.  _ Nailed it. _

 

Lance's face scrunched up, and then relaxed, and then scrunched up even more than before. He almost looked angry.

 

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do about it, Keith?" Lance snapped, flipping his body onto its side to face his best friend and level him with a glare.  _ Oh. He  _ was _ angry. _

 

Keith knew he had no reason to be, but he always got angry in response to Lance's anger. He felt his face heat up for reasons other than embarrassment, returning Lance's intense gaze with a scowl.

 

"I want you to smile at me again," Keith hissed, reaching out with a hand to -  _ no, Keith, stop, don't  _ \- push at Lance's shoulder with enough force to knock Lance off the other side of the bed.

 

Lance tumbled to the floor with a grunt of surprise, and Keith winced when he heard the  _ thunk _ of Lance's shoulder knocking into the ground. There were a few seconds of silence, where neither could see each other. Lance was stewing, Keith was already regretting what he'd done.

 

Of course, Lance had already felt the stab to his self esteem. Keith had made it clear he didn't like Lance's smile without the braces, then told him the other one was weird, and now he was mad that Lance wasn't actually smiling. It was nerve wracking, and at the moment, Lance's nerves were shot. Where there should have been a wave of sadness and insecurity, there was only anger at Keith for making him feel this way and  _ pushing him off the bed, that hurt, asshole. _

 

Keith was taking a breath, preparing to apologize when Lance's face popped back over the edge of the bed, nose wrinkled like he'd smelled something bad and eyes seeming to almost glow with his emotions. Lance's hair was ruffled from the fall, going in all different directions, and he had a little carpet burn on his right arm where he'd hit the floor. Despite the obvious impending fury, Keith's puny teenage mind betrayed him, because it wasn't often anyone saw Lance this angry.  _ He looks kind of hot when he's mad _ .

 

Then Lance was on his feet and diving for Keith, and Keith no longer had time to contemplate the beauty of his best friend when said boy was trying to get his hands on Keith's neck to choke him, and not in a sexy way. They grappled for a few seconds before Lance had Keith's hands pinned beside his head on the bed, and the taller boy was in his face and yelling before Keith could really react.

 

"First you ignore me after I get my braces off - which is FINE, I GET IT, KEITH. You don't like my stupid teeth, whatever. So then I try not to smile, and you turn around and say I  _ look funny _ and that you  _ want me to SMILE _ ," Lance snarled, face so close to Keith's that Keith couldn't get his eyes to focus. Lance let out a breath that went over Keith's mouth and  _ not now teenage lizard brain. _

 

There was a moment of stillness, both of them breathing (Lance closer to heaving from his outburst), and then Lance continued, voice sounding hollow, "Can you just make up your mind?"

 

Keith's brain should have been functioning, but the sound of his best friend and also the person he was pretty sure he was in love with sounding so broken, his mind tried to compute too many things at once and then went blank. So his body took over on autopilot, hips bucking up and arms pulling free of Lance's hands to flip their position, Keith pushing Lance into the pillows. His hands seemed to be following his lead until one slid past Lance's wrist to just grab his hand and the other arm curled around Lance's waist to pull their bodies closer. Just when Keith thought he was going to say something, maybe yell back, his mouth had other ideas - and then he was kissing his best friend.

 

Lance's lips were soft, giving ever so slightly into the pressure Keith put on them. It was nice, as Keith had always imagined it would be, it felt so good to kiss  _ his best friend, Keith you're kissing your best friend, holy shit what are you doing. _

 

Lance was rigid under him, completely frozen in shock. Keith pulled back immediately, a mortified flush rising on his cheeks and neck as he released the hand he'd been holding and starting to slide his other arm away. An apology was already forming on his lips when his world was turned over again.

 

Lance was following him as he pulled away, eyes still burning with anger and something else. Lance's hands cupped Keith's cheeks as he propelled them back to their original position and sealed their lips together again. It was messy, neither of them had any idea what they were doing, but then again Keith couldn't find it in himself to care when his best friend was straddling him and kissing him like his life depended on it.

 

It was heated, it was needy, it was uncoordinated, it was _ Lance _ . It was so much Lance at once that Keith's arms just circled Lance's waist and pulled him close again, holding on for the ride.

 

Lance pulled back to ask, "Why didn't you respond that day?" His voice was breathy. Keith gripped at Lance's hips to try and steady himself so he didn't die.

 

Keith was too high on everything that had happened to be embarrassed by his feelings. Lance was staring down at him in anticipation, body twitchy and almost squirming in Keith's lap and  _ wow Keith was gay. _ His voice sounded almost as strange as Lance's when he replied, "I was really freaked out because, you were good looking before but, you're really,  _ really _ gorgeous without the braces."

 

Lance smirked, chest puffing up a bit. So he'd made Keith lose it with his smile. That didn't fix everything, but it was cute. Keith was too easily flustered and awkward to just tell Lance he liked him.

 

So Lance rewarded Keith for being cute with another kiss. Or a few kisses. Or maybe they made out for an unknown period of time after that, who cares?

 

Somewhere in the back of his mind Lance knew they needed to actually talk about their feelings, but he told that voice to shut up for now. They'd get to that. They'd wasted enough time dancing around each other, and now that Lance had what he wanted, he didn't plan on letting Keith get up anytime soon. They had time now.


End file.
